Daily Archives: October 21, 2008

[Source: Planetizen] — Josh Stephens feels driven to bring attention to last year’s “Big Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses” by Stacey Mitchell. The book argues that mega-retailers have not only drained the American economy of much of its entrepreneurial spirit, but also have contributed to the degradation of the social fabric, intellectual life, and built environment of cities and towns across the United States. [Note: To read the full commentary, click here.]

[Source: Ron Sanzone, Arizona Republic] — Each of Metro light rail’s 28 starter line stations has a unique design, with special efforts taken to reflect the neighborhoods where stations are located. Mike James, who spent seven years working for Metro as a station planner and architect, spoke the Arizona Republic about the stations, which will be in full operation December 27 when light rail begins running between north-central Phoenix and Mesa. Click here to read the full interview.

[Source: Tim Vetscherm, ABC 15 News] — Three new speed cameras have been added to the I-10 corridor through downtown Phoenix. The cameras are part of 100 systems that will be added to Valley freeways and highways in the coming months. Sixty cameras will be of stationary variety and 40 will be mobile speed units, according to Department of Public Safety officials. The newest additions are along both eastbound and westbound I-10 at 15th Avenue and eastbound I-10 at 16th Street.

A Department of Public Safety spokesperson said the camera locations in the Phoenix Metro area will be based upon serious injury and fatal collision data. “Our goal is to slow speeds down in those areas we can show have a high area of collisions that are speed related,” said Lt. James Warriner with DPS.

The Arizona State Legislature delegated close to $20 million to the vendor for implementation of the program, $4 million to the State Supreme Court Administrative Office of the Courts, and $2.173 million to DPS to administer the program. For a list of locations of the Valley’s new speed cameras, click here.

[Source: Casey Newton and Sadie Jo Smokey, Arizona Republic] — A lime green ‘X’ marks the spot in a new marketing campaign designed to brand downtown Phoenix as a global destination. A new logo for downtown shows the words “downtown Phoenix” at an angle, with a bold ‘X’ at the end breaking through an orange circle. The Downtown Phoenix Partnership said the four-color logo will likely be accompanied by an all-purpose marketing slogan, “X marks the spot,” to promote downtown destinations. “I think it’s brilliant,” said Dale Jensen, a general partner of the Arizona Diamondbacks. “There are a million things you can do with that X.”

The partnership and its consultant spent more than a year putting together a new logo for downtown, which will eventually replace “Copper Square” as the brand for downtown. “It was driven by a realization that we were seeing a lot more opportunities downtown,” said Dave Roderique, president and CEO of the partnership. “Things are changing very rapidly.”

The new logo was unveiled Monday at a meeting of the partnership’s board. Later this year, the partnership will launch a full-scale marketing campaign. “At first I didn’t like it, but I focused on the ‘X’ which made me pay attention to it,” said MaryAnn Guerra, president of TGen Accelerators. “X marks the spot for anything you want to do.” [Note: To read the full article, click here.]